Star Wars posters!

[paul waines]

And Petrol in the U.K. is now £1.31.9 a litre....   

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

A not-so-long time ago....

Appropos music....

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/1_0bNesAiPI" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/1_0bNesAiPI</a>



The 1978 Star Wars posters together....

[enki]

 

My new SW poster is "out for delivery".

[enki]

Well, I just received my poster from the eBay auction I mentioned earlier.
www.ebay.com/itm/271145453765

Long story short, I am royally pissed. The poster arrived in horrible condition. The buyer claimed "Near Mint", and yet it was barely "Fair" IMHO.

The first thing I noticed was that one of the corners was missing. About 2" of paper is gone from the top-left corner. The top-right is also missing paper, with a 2+ inch rip going down from the top. The back of the poster is covered in tape or tape residue. The front of the poster also has tape on it, not to mention some sticky substance with hair attached. The bottom corners are also bad (though not as much as the top), with the bottom left having paper loss on the back where tape must have been applied then ripped off. The edges are beat to hell (which could have been done before hand, or possibly in transit, as it was shipped lose in a tube container inside of a box. Along that line, the tube itself was shipped inside a larger box with insulation, but that was pointless since the poster itself was just bouncing around inside the tube.

While the center of the poster, where the "artwork" is, is in fairly good condition, the surrounding edges are horrible.

I spoke to the seller via eBay messaging a few times before buying it, and not once did he ever say anything about this. His listing, with the picture conveniently leaving the damage out, claims "near mint", which is clearly false to the point of being well past deceptive IMHO. He seemed like a nice guy, but I find it hard to believe that this was simply a case of him not knowing how to properly grade a poster.

I've already sent him a "not as described" email, through eBay, and he just responded (as I was typing this) that he would provide a full refund (plus return postage) and apologized for the issue. He said "When I showed the poster to local poster shop they said it was near mint because no wrinkles, folds, markings." So I guess he was mislead.

Anyway, this was my wife's birthday present to me (vicariously), which is in three days, so I think she is more pissed than I am (which is a lot).

This is why I prefer to buy posters from reputable places like EMP. In fact, outside of CM auctions on eBay, this was my first eBay poster buy. I think it might be my last.

On a side note, to Thierry, the GAU logo is there and clear. So I have no doubt it's genuine. Albeit a genuine crappy condition.

[CSM]

Did you negotiate a sale ending the auction early on that poster Enki - aka "off eBay"?

If you did, I am surprised he is willing to offer you a refund!

But those shitty pics should have been a major warning sign...

[enki]

Did you negotiate a sale ending the auction early on that poster Enki - aka "off eBay"?

If you did, I am surprised he is willing to offer you a refund!

But those shitty pics should have been a major warning sign...

I offered to purchase it from him, through eBay, for the starting bid (which I got him to lower from his original rediculous amount after explaining to him what a "near mint" poster of that type routinely goes for, and providing him with recent selling examples at EMP and HA). He accepted the offer, I bid, and he ended it early. This was the third (if not more) time he had listed it, with the price dropping as it went. His last auction had a starting price of $400, and it didn't sell. When it hit $350, the most I was willing to pay, I offered him a sale.

I'm not sure why you think he shouldn't offer me a refund just because of the circumstances outlined above. The transaction was still done through eBay (hence, they get their cut), paid via PayPal (hence, they get their cut), and both offer protection mechanisms to protect the buyer (ie: me) from an item received that isn't as described. If he refused, I would have simply disputed it with eBay and/or PayPal and gotten my money back that way. If that didn't work, which I have little doubt would be the case, I could have initiated a charge back and certainly received a full refund.

Either way, he is going to refund the money. If he does the honorable thing, he will also receive positive feedback, so it is in his best interest to do that.

Whether the seller here was purposely or just ignorantly deceptive, that doesn't mean I should be stuck with it. He did the right thing, or at least promises he will. Once he receives his poster back and provides a refund, I will give him positive feedback for doing so.

I'm still upset though. Not really at him, but more at the situation.

[pratschm]

Mel, those framed posters look awesome!
If I may ask, how tall is the wall, standard 8ft?
I'm thinking of doubling up like that, but having a frame so low to the ground concerns me.
Need to get me one of those style D posters... pronto.

[CSM]

Excuse my ignorance as I did not realize you could end an auction early (i.e. sell at starting or current bid price) and still have the sale process through eBay.  Thought that would only be possible in a Best Offer or Buy it Now situation.  

I have purchased items at a lower price after an auction ended but always paid through Paypal and not once has the transaction been processed through eBay directly.  I was surprised you were able to complete the transaction through eBay (which of course gives you another level of recourse should something go array - which unfortunately it has).

Sure if stinks that he packaged it terribly and it was likely in not the best condition to begin with but sometimes us collectors really need to take the initiative in protecting ourselves by asking for additional pics and info etc.  Otherwise it truly is a gamble on what is going to show up at your door.

That said, hope you get your full refund without too much hassle...  

[enki]

Yeah, eBay offers the seller an ability to end an auction early and have the highest bidder be the winner.

While his packaging job wasn't great, I doubt it would have caused even a fraction of the damage that the poster already had.

[enki]

Need to get me one of those style D posters... pronto.

[erik1925]

Did you negotiate a sale ending the auction early on that poster Enki - aka "off eBay"?

If you did, I am surprised he is willing to offer you a refund!

But those shitty pics should have been a major warning sign...

+1, Chris.

Both pics, especially the second closeup of the bottom border, are conveniently cropped.  

Hope he follows thru with you, enki. Good luck.

     

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Mel, those framed posters look awesome!
If I may ask, how tall is the wall, standard 8ft?
I'm thinking of doubling up like that, but having a frame so low to the ground concerns me.
Need to get me one of those style D posters... pronto.

That section of the wall is only 84" so there's very little extra space for two 41" (V) frames.

Well, I just received my poster from the eBay auction I mentioned earlier.
www.ebay.com/itm/271145453765. Long story short, I am royally pissed. The poster arrived in horrible condition. The buyer claimed "Near Mint", and yet it was barely "Fair" IMHO.

That's disappointing indeed and frankly it appears the seller used deceptive pictures.  

And by the way it's good you used Ebay for that transaction.  Paypal offers very little protection.  You can only get a refund if the package doesn't show up.

[pratschm]

Sorry for your experience, enki. Definitely looked like a nice poster. I can see the tear in the upper right, but only after you mentioned it. Otherwise it just looks like the light catching the poster awkwardly. I did notice that the top and bottom borders were 'conveniently' cropped from the posted image. I've actually purchased most of my posters from ebay, but I always ask numerous questions of the seller, the most important being 'is there anything else about the poster that was not mentioned that I should know about'. I figure sending that through the ebay messaging gives them one last chance to describe any flaws and gives me something 'in writing' should I need to get a refund.
Anyways, I hope you're able to find another copy of that poster (all the ones I saw on ebay were a bit more expensive) and happy early birthday!

[eatbrie]

Paypal offers very little protection.  You can only get a refund if the package doesn't show up.

Absolutely false.  I have used Paypal resolution center at least 100 times, whether I received the poster or not.  And I have always won.  All you need to do is file a claim, wait for them to tell you to send the poster back, and send it back with delivery confirmation.  Again, I have always won these disputes.

T

PS: I even had a guy who said that he would not accept the poster back.  So he didn't, Paypal recouped the money from him and I got his shitty poster back.  So he's out of a poster and $300.  Live and learn.

[pratschm]

Wow, only 84", not much left over space at all. Now that I look at it again, I think I can see where the ceiling meets the wall, so they are right up there.
On the flip side, that's gotta be one impressive looking wall!

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Absolutely false.  I have used Paypal resolution center at least 100 times, whether I received the poster or not.  And I have always won.  All you need to do is file a claim, wait for them to tell you to send the poster back, and send it back with delivery confirmation.  Again, I have always won these disputes.

Well, T for once you're right  

I'm behind the times. Before November 2010 Paypal did not offer Buyer Protection on non-Ebay transactions. You could only get a refund for "Item Not Received."  

Beginning in November 2010 Paypal extended it to non-eBay transactions and you can now argue "Significantly Not as Described."

Here's the Paypal User Agreement describing the policy.

And yes the "default" ruling is "buyer gets full refund upon proof of return."  That's been the "ruling" in the 10-15 cases I've filed as a buyer.

[erik1925]

Absolutely false.  I have used Paypal resolution center at least 100 times, whether I received the poster or not.  And I have always won.  All you need to do is file a claim, wait for them to tell you to send the poster back, and send it back with delivery confirmation.  Again, I have always won these disputes.

T

PS: I even had a guy who said that he would not accept the poster back.  So he didn't, Paypal recouped the money from him and I got his shitty poster back.  So he's out of a poster and $300.  Live and learn.

Right on, T.

 

[eatbrie]

Yeah, maybe "Absolutely false" was not a nice way to put it, but I'm blunt.

Sorry about that.

T

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

By the way Dan also sent me the 39.5" (V) reprint of this poster.

Apparently it's the Thai fan club reprint:

http://www.starwarsthaifanclub.com/index.php

http://www.starwarsmovieposter.com/popups/usosswbirthday.htm

It's obviously very easy to distinguish just on size - 39.5" (V) x 27" (H) - and the white borders are totally different.  It's also printed on minty white thicker paper and the "Star Wars Happy Birthday One Sheet" is not slanted.

[kovacs01]

There is a Thai Fan Club poster??  Or is that what we call the reproductions coming out of Thailand these days?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

There is a Thai Fan Club poster??  Or is that what we call the reproductions coming out of Thailand these days?

This seems like a "legitimate" reprint since it's of reasonably good quality - not the MovieGoods/Tom Loce crappy digital repro - and I'm assuming it's the Thai reprint identified by StarWarsMoviePoster.com. Most non-poster collectors would be perfectly satisfied with it.  It's apparently not a "bootleg," which I would define as a poster nearly identical to an original and designed to defraud collectors.

[Zorba]

Thai fan club posters oh my!

This is one fucked up hobby.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Thai fan club posters oh my!

This is one fucked up hobby.

Hey, apparently Thai chicks dig Star Wars.  Who's complaining 'bout that?

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Good show but where's your concert poster? 

[Zorba]

Hey, apparently Thai chicks dig Star Wars.  Who's complaining 'bout that?

I do like thai food.